PR Campaign for Sibel Edmonds

I have chosen former FBI translator and whistle-blower Sibel Edmonds as the subject of my hypothetical public relations campaign. First I will discuss the positioning of my client in relation to external publics. Then I will write a statement to the press, and evaluate its benefits and risks.

The case of Sibel Edmonds is a Byzantine one that is difficult to sum up in a few words. As Edmunds herself says ômy case is so messy and complicatedö (antiwar.com). But in spite of all the complex detail of her case and allegations, she is as close to a perfect candidate for a successful public relations campaign as it is possible to conceive.

First it is important to understand some background about her case, as well as the scope of her allegations and the nature of her adversaries.

EdmondÆs father was an Azerbaijani doctor who moved back and forth several times between Iran to Turkey. Sibel learned to speak Azerbaijani, Turkish, and Farsi, the language of Iran, and she added English when she came to study criminal justice at George Washington University in the United States in 1988. She later worked for the Alexandria Juvenile Court, and eventually applied for a job as an agent with the FBI.

In a foretaste of the incompetence she found to be endemic when she finally came to work for the agency after 9/11, her application was lost, and several years passed. But three days after the jets struck the Twin Towers and the Pentagon the

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nclassified hearings, and imposed a gag order on her about revealing the specifics of her charges, something Edmonds maintains was a violation of the law. He also caused her whistle-blower lawsuit against the government to be dismissed, citing her case as a matter of ôstate secret privilegeö. The most recent development in this on-going case is publication of the report by Inspector General of the Justice Department Glenn A. Fine regarding her case, which vindicated her, finding that many of her allegations ôwere supported, that the FBI did not take them seriously enough and that her allegations were, in fact, the most significant factor in the FBIÆs decision to terminate her servicesö (New York Times, January 15, 2005). While her case will not be resolved for years, it presents a classic public relations challenge. If we take the definition of public relations from www.ad-up.com (2005) û ôcommunication with various sectors of the public to influence their attitudes and opinions in the interest of promoting a person, product, or ideaö we see an interesting array of strengths and weaknesses regarding our hypothetical client Sibel Edmonds. Public relations is a slippery slope, depending on what person, product, or idea is being
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1674
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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